"Forward, Senor Licurgo!"

"Back, Senor Don Jose," replied the peasant, in distressed accents.
"You don't know what kind of people those are. They are the same men
who stole the chalice, the Virgin's crown, and two candlesticks from the
church of the Carmen last month; they are the men who robbed the Madrid
train two years ago."

Don Jose, hearing these alarming antecedents, felt his courage begin to
give way.

"Do you see that great high hill in the distance? Well, that is where
those rascals hide themselves; there in some caves which they call the
Retreat of the Cavaliers."

"Of the Cavaliers?"

"Yes, senor. They come down to the high-road when the Civil Guards are
not watching, and rob all they can. Do you see a cross beyond the bend
of the road? Well, that was erected in remembrance of the death of the
Alcalde of Villahorrenda, whom they murdered there at the time of the
elections."

"Yes, I see the cross."

"There is an old house there, in which they hide themselves to wait for
the carriers. They call that place The Pleasaunce."

"The Pleasaunce?"